Vegetarian Baby by Marian Edelman Borden with Alison D. Schonwald, MD

A healthy vegetarian diet that also includes milk and eggs can easily meet all your baby's nutritional needs. Discuss your baby's proposed vegetarian diet in detail with your pediatrician. A vegetarian diet should include lots of iron-rich foods (stewed dried fruits, beans, and fortified cereal), and a daily multivitamin with iron (make sure this is stored out of reach of your baby as iron poisoning can be fatal).

Fat is important in brain development, and babies under age two need more calories and fat than at any other time in their lives. Some foods used to increase calories and fat in the diet are mashed avocado, vegetable oil, and nut and seed butters.

Vegan Diet

Meeting all of your baby's nutritional needs is less easily accomplished on a vegan (vegetable foods only) diet. Vitamin B12 can only be supplied by animal products, and it is also difficult to provide sufficient calcium, vitamin D, and riboflavin, which originate largely, but not exclusively, in dairy products. It can be especially difficult for infants on a vegan diet to consume the quantity of food required to provide the necessary amounts of these essential nutrients. As previously stated, infants need much higher levels of fat in their diet than adults, and a vegan diet is typically a low-fat one. Discuss your concerns with your health care provider to see what adjustments you must make to your baby's diet so she gets the nutrients, calories, and fat she needs.